Overall, we think the Accord's new look works pretty well and is certainly a big step forward for those who found the 7th generation to be too boring. By our estimation, the sedan needed a complete makeover more than the coupe did, but Honda's designers swung for the fences with the 2008 coupe. Either way, the 2008 Accord is more bold and muscular than the outgoing model. Compared to the 7th generation Accord, the 2008 model strikes a more commanding stance on the road and is generally more interesting to look at, from the more formal 6-sided grille, to the sharp corners on the jumbo-sized headlights, to the character line scribed from the base of those headlights all the way to the rear of the car. Details abound, with nicely articulated shapes molded into the bumpers and sills, well integrated cutlines, and a generally cohesive flow of design from nearly every angle on the vehicle. If there's a weak spot that I can point to on the 2008 Accord, it would be the excessive front overhang, both on the coupe and the sedan. Another weakness of the sedan's design would be the taillights and the shape of the trunk. Sure, from the side it has a bit of BMW 5-series flavor to it, but most of that is lost when you look at the car straight-on from the back. In my opinion, this is the least flattering angle of the 2008 Accord sedan. The roofline of both the coupe and sedan follows an eye-pleasing arc and while past Accords have had a bit of a kink in the C-pillar, the 8th generation features the most prominent kink on any Accord to date, and in my opinion, it comes across quite nicely.

While the design lends the Accord a more upscale overall look and feel, we wish Honda would have taken a few extra steps with the sedan. First of all, the coupe's projector headlamps look great, and they would have looked equally great on the sedan - we're not sure why they're not at least offered on the EX trim level (and where are the Xenons?). Also, the sedan's taillights seem a little too plain. We certainly don't want to see them overstyled with chrome housings and clear lenses or anything like the Altima's, but a nice LED design could improve the looks as well as the safety of the vehicle.

Interior
Inside the 2008 Accord, Honda has pretty much kept to the same script they've been following for years. That means it's quite a nice place to be, without necessarily going over the top in terms of luxury touches. With few exceptions, the materials chosen by Honda look and feel above average for the class. Honda claims that the grade of leather for EX-L models has been improved compared to last year's Accord, and it does in fact look and feel quite nice. While some of the plastic surfaces may be getting a little harder to the touch (particularly the parts you don't normally touch, such as the upper dashboard material), they maintain the rich looking finish that has defined Accord interiors of the past. Pretty much everything has a sturdy and durable feel to it, from the glove box to the various door pockets to the center console area. The only sore spots for me would be the accent trim (which is either a non-convincing faux wood, or a sub-par silver-painted plastic) and the silver-painted (plastic) interior door handles. Given my choice between the 3 interior color schemes, I would probably pick the black interior. Though the black interior is probably a little too monochromatic, I'm not really sold on the plasti-wood trim nor the straw-like hues of the ivory interior. Additinally, the modules containing the power window switches are solid black regardless of interior color, and on cars with the ivory interior they look somewhat mismatched to the surrounding trimpieces, cheapening the overall look to an extent.

At first glance, the sheer number of buttons on the center stack may appear intimidating, but they are large and text labels are sized like the top line of an eye chart, so it takes little time to get comfortable with their placement and function. The Accord is probably the first of the mainstreamers to include a multifunction dial on the dashboard (think i-Drive, sans the infuriation). The dial is necessary because the LCD screen for the navigation system is placed out of comfortable reach, up in a deeply hooded recess on the top center portion of the dashboard, and there is no longer a touch screen interface. On Accords that aren't equipped with the navigation system, a multi-line information panel replaces the navi screen. While we applaud this idea, we think the execution could have been quite a bit better. I'm not sure how much extra cost would have been involved by going with a more sophisticated dot matrix panel, but the multi-segment displays that Honda loves so much have looked outdated for years.

At the helm, the driver is greeted by a nicely sized steering wheel. Again, we could do without the silver painted plastic trim that adorns parts of the steering wheel, but the redundant switches are arranged logically and neatly, with audio and cruise control switches on all models, and additional voice control switches for both the available navi system and Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink™ telephone interface. The leather-wrapped steering wheel of the EX-L has a relatively thick rim which feels good in hand, particularly at the 10 and 2 positions where the rim is further thickened. The switchgear on the stalks is standard Honda fare - turn signal and headlights (and driving/fog lights on so-equipped models) on the left stalk, windshield wipers on the right. The gauge cluster is fairly straightforward, fortunately sticking with an understated design motif in favor of legibility. About the only nod towards style would be the small lexan "chicklets" that dot the hashmarks on the tachometer and speedometer dials. The numerals are illuminated by LED, which makes for great legibility, day or night. Disappointingly, to get a trip computer on an Accord, you have to spring for an EX-L model with Navi. This seems like a huge omission in this day and age where every drop of fuel matters.

Visibility from the driver's seat is quite good all the way around, with Honda paying special attention to the size and placement of the A-pillars.

Comfort
The 2007 Accord already had a lot going for it in terms of interior comfort, and the 2008 expands upon that. Thanks to the '08 Accord's stretched exterior dimensions, the interior is quite a bit roomier by several measures as well. For one thing, Honda claims that the driver and front seat passenger are now separated by an extra 40mm of width. Rear seat passengers now enjoy an additional 35mm of knee room. Furthermore, Honda claims that seat comfort has been improved, and while I can't honestly say whether or not they've surpassed the comfort level of the 7th generation Accord's seats, I found them to be very comfortable. I would like to see slightly larger thigh bolsters, but I realize I would probably find myself in a very small minority of Accord intenders. In all but the most basic Accord model, the driver's seat is an 8-way power affair, with a power lumbar support on all EX trim levels. I like the adjustability of the 8-way seats but as far as I'm concerned, they might as well be manually adjustable if there's no memory function.

Sound
The 2008 Accord offers two sound systems - a standard 160-watt 6-speaker system, and an upgraded 270-Watt with 7 speakers (including a subwoofer mounted in the rear tray). A first for Honda in the US is the inclusion of RDS (Radio Data System). Fortunately MP3/Auxiliary input jacks are also standard across the board, but we'd love to see some sort of interface for flash memory playback (whether it's PC-Card or USB) offered on the upper end stereo system. All stereos support playback of MP3/WMA material that is burned onto CD-Rs. The overall sound quality is pretty much standard fare for Honda, which means it's generally competent.